At the bottom of the page click on the YouTube link to see the photos.
It was great to sail away from Hamburg at night and wake up the next morning on the beautiful Kiel Canal. Known as the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal in Germany, it is the most heavily used artificial waterway in the world. According to the canal’s website over 45,000 vessels passed through in 2010, excluding small crafts. It runs for almost 100 km right through Schleswig-Holstein and links the North Sea with the Baltic.
We entered the canal in Brünsbuttel at 6:30 AM and were glued to the balcony enjoying the passing German countryside. Lots of friendly folks were out on shore to wave at us and the other ships. Many sail boats and other pleasure yachts were transiting the canal and we were having a good time recognizing the flags they were flying. There are bike paths and a little road along both sides of the canal. The Germans were camping, hiking and riding their bikes. The farmland is rich and lush and the cows are big and fat.
At the first town we came to the German national anthem blasted from the speakers. Our Captain blew the horn three times in response. How cool is that! And just imagine, an oompah band, 18-man strong, came onboard and played for us while we munched on delicious German food and beer at the outdoor Lido Deck. We exited the canal in Kiel-Holtenau at 5:00 PM, waved farewell to the awesome band, then joined our friends for cocktails and dinner. People around us were saying how pretty this canal is compared to the Panama Canal.
Early morning we docked in Copenhagen. Having “been there – done that”, what should we do here for 2 days, we asked ourselves. So I did a Google search and learned that on the outskirts of Copenhagen is the world’s largest and oldest Open Air Museum. Dickie wasn’t too keen on doing anything “museum-ish”, and it took quite some persuasion to drag him along.
Understanding the basic layout of Copenhagen, we took the S-Train to Lyngby, then the B-train to Sorgenfri and wandered into a time capsule of long ago – a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale village. The Frilandsmuseet spreads over 89 acres of land and includes more than 50 painstakingly reconstructed farms, windmills and fishermen’s cottages. Virtually every region in Denmark, southern Sweden and northern Germany is represented here. What makes the museum unique is that the farmhouses are fully furnished the way they were from the period 1650 – 1950. You can walk freely in and out of the houses, and get a very good idea of what life was like for the more than 90% of the population living on farms at the time. For many that life was pretty rough!
Late afternoon we enjoyed the world’s oldest existing amusement park - Tivoli Gardens. What a site! The park is lit by some 120,000 lamps in the evening and the lanterns in the trees create a magical atmosphere. (Neon lights are banned here). It’s like walking into a storybook.
We ended the day in one of Tivoli’s 46 restaurants, cafes, and bars and ordered two glasses of Alsace Riesling. The price? Oh forget it – you wouldn’t believe me anyway. In Denmark, things are so costly that people consume more sparingly. The society is designed in a way that encourages people to use less and chew slower. I think Danes know they could make more money if they embraced the "big gulp" society and started super-sizing things. But the decision is not based just on what's good for the economy. A Costco economy is just not Danish.
I loved this thriving metropolis, but fell in love with the countryside and the people. Everything’s so Danish here….so cute, so unpolluted! People laugh polity when I asked if they speak English, responding, “Of course I do.” Conversation flows easy.
When a Dane dies, after having lived a very blessed life in Denmark, the tombstone should say “Tak for Alt” – thanks for everything.
Click on the above YouTube link to see the pictures.
It was great to sail away from 
We ended the day in one of Tivoli’s 46 restaurants, cafes, and bars and ordered two glasses of Alsace Riesling. The price? Oh forget it – you wouldn’t believe me anyway. In Denmark, things are so costly that people consume more sparingly. The society is designed in a way that encourages people to use less and chew slower. I think Danes know they could make more money if they embraced the "big gulp" society and started super-sizing things. But the decision is not based just on what's good for the economy. A Costco economy is just not Danish.
